From the Shadows
by EgiloftheIronFist
Summary: Set after Tekken 5. After a mysterious attack on G Corporation's headquarters, many of the company's leading officers are dead. Those who are left now pick up the pieces, and a new CEO must be named...
1. Chapter 1

_We all know who killed his rivals within G Corporation and eventually became CEO. This is a story about that man's rise to power and the lengths he would go to cover up his schemes and ambitions from the rest of the company until his plans come to fruition._

 _Though most of the story is from the perspective of an OC, there will also be chapters from Kazuya, Bruce, and Anna's POV._

 _Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think!_

* * *

The hall was having a moment of silence, broken only by the occasional sob.

Five hundred G Corporation middle-management employees were seated in the auditorium. G Corporation's lecture auditorium was normally used for symposiums on cutting-edge biotechnology to keep employees current on the latest research in their fields, but today was different. A calamity needed to be addressed.

One of the human resources drones had asked them to tell their staff that everything was fine and that everyone could return to work without fear. No one was sure of that, but life had to continue.

 _Today we remember…_

From the back rows, the podium on the stage and the speaker standing behind were nearly invisible, so the end of the silence was jarring. The speaker was giving a brief eulogy for some of the company's most well-known agents.

 _Tragedy… Coworkers and friends… Grief counselors available…_

Two weeks earlier, just after the New Year, a series of explosions had ripped through G Corporation's administrative headquarters, the Millennium Tower in Munich, Germany, killing 90. They had detonated after normal business hours on a night when much of the tower's senior management were having meetings. Several employees working long hours had been in the building as well. Among the casualties were several lab workers, analysts, security, and many members of corporate leadership including the CEO. This company-wide address was the headquarters' first opening since the attack. Several of the labs and offices were still closed and being renovated, but the tower was deemed structurally sound and business could continue while repairs were made.

As much as the employees wanted to get back to their work, they appreciated the memorial service. But the barely-hidden indifference of everyone on stage did not go unnoticed.

 _Restructure…Rebuild…Rise from the ashes…_

Behind the speaker sat what was left of the company leadership, called in from all over the world. After the address, there was to be a board meeting to determine the future of G. There was an urgency to regain some sense of normalcy. A new CEO had to be voted on, a new treasurer named, new legal and human resources leaders chosen. It was going to be a rocky transition for everyone. All the department heads would be moving upward, no one would have the same supervisor and project leads would have to bring the new managers up to speed on everything going on in the labs. That meant several days of no real work getting done.

The hierarchy at G Corporation, being such a large company with so many irons in the proverbial fire, had always been unorthodox. The board of directors included several of the members of upper management in each major research field the corporation dabbled in, titling them Directors of Research in their various fields and giving them executive-level powers. Before the attack, the board had consisted of fifteen members. Only seven now remained.

Among the surviving leadership, once voluntary test subject turned Director of Biochemical Research, and suddenly one of the most senior members of the board, Kazuya Mishima sat stoically, dressed in a black suit with a red shirt and black tie, with his head resting on his fist and one leg crossed over the other as the speaker went on. Everyone at G Corporation knew of Mishima, but no one knew much about him. In fact, all anyone really knew was that he single-handedly stopped an attack on the labs in Nebraska. Some hoped that he would stay on in Munich to tighten security through the whole company, certain that the incidents were linked and would be repeated.

As the speaker finished, people were shifting restlessly in their seats. However, as a final statement, he paused a moment and said, "I know these last few weeks have been hard. Still, we encourage you to stay positive. And remember, we're still under a complete media blackout. Direct anyone asking questions to Public Relations."

Everyone at G Corporation was used to media blackouts. The research under its umbrella was often highly sensitive and government contracts were a common happenstance. But regarding a bombing that was seen through the entire city? Anxiety floated in the air.

After an uncomfortable moment, people began to rise from their seats and walk out the doors. The building looked unfamiliar. Though most of the debris had been cleared from the open areas of the tower, outside the labs that were hit the hardest the walls were still charred, and dust wafted through the once pristine halls. Some were regretting coming back so soon to a workplace that still looked so ravaged. They had been given a choice, of course, but many of the projects undertaken at the main headquarters were time sensitive and they were already almost a month behind. If G employees were anything, they were dedicated.

The employees dispersed, ambling toward their work stations where they could. There were many places still roped off for being unsafe. The upper floors where the executive offices were held were still off limits, so many of the offices on the lower floors were shared or divided between administrators. Most of the labs had been untouched, but a few of the bombs were set off in labs on various floors. The surrounding labs were in various states of disarray, having been left untouched by the cleanup crews. Just one more thing to put them behind.

And so, G's employees got back to work. Everyone understood that what was important was putting the harrowing event behind them and getting back on schedule. The sooner that happened, the better.

* * *

One of the employees to have attended the address, Dr. Bera Lande was a Norwegian evolutionary biologist. She had moved to Munich 3 years earlier as a graduate of the University of Oslo with the promise of a job at G Corporation and quickly worked her way up from lab assistant. Her current position was as the head of a team studying genetic mutation; her current task to guide her team in assessing the damage to their laboratory and experiments. After she passed along what was said at the memorial and tucked her ash blonde hair into an untidy bun, they began by organizing the research notes scattered across the floor and moved from there.

Through the morning and most of the afternoon, Bera's team was busy cleaning up the remaining shrapnel and testing their equipment to make sure it was all still functional. Although their lab was right next to one of the ones bombed, most of their equipment was sound and their samples still locked away and sterile. Miraculously, only one machine had been directly hit by the blast; an automated pipettor which was now in pieces. A few other machines were damaged, but not beyond repair and most of them still worked just fine.

Periodically swiping dust from her sweater, she continued moving furniture around to make inspecting their equipment easier. Bera delegated various tasks to her team, eventually becoming annoyed that she had to keep telling them what needed to be done. The lab was in tatters. There was an endless list of self-apparent chores. She realized that some of them were still shaken by their first look at the damage to the lab and tried to be patient. She herself was having trouble keeping her breath, seeing the many grim reminders of that night.

Bera stood up from inspecting one of the lab refrigerators and stared apprehensively at the boarded-up window that used to peer into the lab next door. Bera had been working later than usual the night of the attack and was lucky to have only gotten some glass shards embedded in her arms and torso. Niels Møller, one of her lab aides, was with her that evening. He had been standing right next to that window and wasn't so lucky. He had been barely recognizable when Bera found him, after her senses had returned and the confusion from the explosion had died down. Her direct supervisor and chief of genetics research Dr. Helena Bruni had been on the other side. Like everyone else who had been in the room, her remains were never positively identified.

Bera felt tired. No matter how much she tried to bury her thoughts in work, she couldn't forget all the blood. She had dreams about it through the previous few weeks. It appeared to be cleaned up, but Bera wouldn't chance peering into the adjacent room. The blood was practically all she remembered from that evening other than the smoke and the feeling of the tower rocking two, three, four times as it became apparent that what was happening wasn't simply a lab accident. She hadn't even felt the glass in her skin until hours later when the adrenaline in her system abated and a paramedic noticed she was bleeding. Now the wounds were little more than pink marks in her skin, only a few leaving lasting scars.

Bera called her team together and told them to list off their findings.

As Bera's aides took turns running through their status checks, the door opened. Site Administrator Hans Ziggler walked in with all seven remaining members of the board of directors. The small lab became very tight and Bera was suddenly hyperaware of the state of her hair and that she was wearing a ratty old sweater and corduroy pants. Bera recognized most of them, as many of the directors were stationed in Munich. Aryan Tagore was Director of Pharmaceutical Research. Lindsey Marcus was Director of Engineering. Julian Hied was Director of Defense Development. Zhao Guìyīng was Director of Botanical Research. Bera didn't recognize the rest, other than Kazuya Mishima, who was currently the talk of the company.

It was strange to Bera that they had never met before. As Director of Biochemical Research, that put Bera and her colleagues studying mutation under his management. The rumor was that he never left the Nebraska facility because it was simply a housing for his personal pet projects. Before the Nebraska attack, no one knew who he was, and all research taking place in Nebraska was Need-to-Know, making Mishima even more of a curiosity.

Bera's aides stood behind her, none of them ever having been under the scrutiny of a gaggle of directors. Neither had Bera. This kind of gathering was unprecedented outside of the boardroom, as most of the directors preferred to meet with their section chiefs rather than deal with the nerds in the labs, so full-fledged inspections were few and far between.

"How is everyone doing? Are you all prepared to dig right back in?" Hans Ziggler raised a tablet to type on while the lab aides muttered responses. Bera resisted the urge to roll her eyes and answered aloud that they were all eager to get back to work.

"That's good, but," Ziggler coughed, "unfortunately the lab next door took heavy structural damage and the repairs are going to be more extensive than previously thought," Bera knew he meant that the outside wall was nothing more than a gaping hole and a few supports had been demolished, and wasn't sure how that kind of damage could be underestimated, "you won't be working in this room for a few weeks as the renovations are completed. Not just for the noise and the reverberations which would no doubt hinder working conditions, but we want to make sure you're all safe until the floor is reinforced."

Bera's assistants shuffled nervously and she heard a few sharp inhales.

"Don't worry about your deadlines," Ziggler continued, "we're going to relocate your staff to help other teams catch up while your lab is closed. Don't feel too badly. The rooms directly above you are also being closed for the duration of construction. Every department has been hit." Extended deadlines were always a relief, but no one was excited about being taken off their project, for any amount of time. Bera simply nodded. Her aides exchanged glances.

Thus far, the directors had made no attempt to pipe in and were standing patiently, waiting to be done here. Rather than listening to the conversation, Mishima leaned against the wall behind them all and seemed to be sizing up the aides and Bera herself. His expression was unreadable. Bera hadn't been uneasy until she noticed being analyzed. She made a conscious effort not to make eye contact with him. Bera realized that it had been quiet for a moment. Ziggler probably expected her to say something, but she was unable to respond. She tried to hide her apprehension a little better than the aides cowering behind her.

"But since you've taken the time to inspect the room, we can deal with that now," Ziggler broke the silence, "what's your lab's status, Dr. Lande? What needs to be replaced?"

"Only one machine needs replacing," she gestured to the offending pipettor, "when the lab opens again we can do without for a while, and our experiments won't be set back too much further. Everything else seems to be in order."

Ziggler nodded and was making notes on the tablet, clearly relieved. It was probably assumed that Bera's lab would be worse off, as the explosion next door was the largest of that night.

Ziggler then began marking off names as he made the teams' temporary assignments and told them all where to report. Bera was left last. Ziggler waited until the last aide was out of the room before addressing her.

"Bera," he hesitated, "there's no easy way to say this, but with Helena Bruni's and several other research officers' deaths, you're left as the most senior researcher in genetics."

Bera didn't move. Her eyebrow twitched. She was sure she didn't hear that right. Bera wasn't even chiefly a geneticist. Of all the leadership in her division, she couldn't be the only one left. But as she thought about it, she remembered a meeting taking place that night in the lab next door. They had all been there.

She could feel her face slackening. Before she could feel any sicker, she recollected herself. She hadn't seen the full list of casualties, and hadn't realized how heavy the damage to the company infrastructure. She clenched her jaw and lifted her eyes again, noticing that Mishima was now standing upright. He extended a hand to her. As if in a daze, she shook it.

"Congratulations on your meteoric rise, Dr. Lande," he said, "I've seen your thesis and your work since you've been with G, I anticipate you'll be a fitting section chief." Like all employees with English as a second or third language, like Bera herself, he spoke with an accent. Truly seeing his face for the first time, she was further unsettled. His face was scarred and his eyes were piercing. He looked more like a career criminal than a scientist.

"Thank you, Director," Bera gulped. Her abrupt promotion left her as Mishima's direct subordinate. Normally she would have done some more research into her superiors when elevating in rank, but this was the circumstance she was left with. As it stood, she knew nothing about him and that brought her to the edge of panic. She had nothing to say.

"This is all very sudden," Ziggler spoke softly, "but the trust Dr. Bruni placed in you makes me confident that you'll be just as effective a leader and you'll accomplish great things. This means, however, lab work won't be your primary concern. You'll be taking over Dr. Bruni's duties, advising and overseeing the research teams. I know how invested you are in your current project, but you're needed elsewhere now."

Bera finally felt like she could breathe again. "I appreciate your trust," she shook Ziggler's hand as well.

"Your next few days' challenge will be assessing each of your teams' progress and how long each will be behind schedule. Given the circumstances it can't be helped, but we do need something to tell the investors."

"I'll be meeting with you regularly for reports," Mishima nodded to Bera. She choked out a "yes, sir," before the directors started filing out of the room. A few, those she knew personally, stopped to congratulate her and give words of encouragement. Bera smiled warmly as they left, but when they were gone her face sank again.

She gathered her things and started making the rounds to her new staff.

She spent the rest of the afternoon running around the genetics labs in circles, called from one side of her floor to the other again and again to address problems, advise teams on their immediate plans, and soothe the odd nervous breakdown. Pressure wasn't anything new to most of G's employees, but the emotional tension on the first day back to work after what had been labelled an act of terrorism was considerable. Bera herself felt on the verge of her own meltdown when she saw Mishima stalking the hall toward her with a deliberate stride. He was the one person she hadn't wanted to see just then. She swallowed hard and forced herself to smile at him.

"Doctor," he nodded in acknowledgment and walked on by. She was relieved that he didn't seem to want to talk. His presence was intimidating to say the least, and she was already on edge. She made sure he wasn't about to turn around and watched him for a moment. He was familiarizing himself with the department layout without going out of his way to speak to anyone. She thought she should at least offer to show him around, but he seemed to know where he was going, and the pit nestling itself snugly in her stomach gave her pause. He would be fine on his own. Bera hurried to her destination before she chanced crossing paths with him again.

* * *

That evening, Bera was more than ready to go home. She dragged her feet as she left the building, but fresh air perked her up again. It was cold, typical of late January, but Bera's home was only a few hundred miles from the arctic and this weather relaxed her. At this time of year, she preferred to walk the city streets to her apartment, just over a mile away.

It was dark outside and cloudy, but the city lights turned the sky a pinkish purple and it looked like snow would be coming soon. That was fine with Bera.

The decision to build G Corporation's European site in Munich was a purely economic one, joining such industry leaders as BMW and the Max Planck Society in choosing this city as their administrative capital. Munich was simply one of the most prosperous financial centres in Europe with a large, international populace to employ from.

Munich was a city of nearly 2 million people, but it still had a rural, village-like atmosphere. It was very like her much smaller hometown of Trondheim. Tall corporate towers rose into the sky not far from the town's medieval churches and neoclassical mansions and state buildings. The city was a thousand years old, and every part of its history was represented in its architecture. Not only that, but the city was nestled in the foothills of the Alps, with stunning views all throughout the city of snow-covered mountaintops and glacial lakes. Bera often spent weekends hiking or exploring the area. It hadn't taken long for her to find things to love about her new home after moving there right out of university.

From the Millennium Tower, Bera had to walk past a few other skyscrapers before she came to the more understated city center. She would continue to walk past mansions and high-end businesses for several blocks before reaching the more classical downtown. Soon after she'd find herself in the historic center and be close to home.

Ten minutes into her walk she heard someone calling to her from behind. Turning, she saw a short, thin woman with curly golden-blonde hair jogging up to her; Birgit Kruse, a Danish lab assistant. Birgit was still working on her thesis and was technically an intern. She worked in the botany department so Bera rarely crossed paths with her, but having another Scandinavian around was comforting.

"You're out quite late at night, missy, where is your chaperone?" Bera smiled at Birgit as she caught up. Birgit was one of the youngest in the labs and was teased for it incessantly.

Boasting some of the greatest scientific minds from all over the world, G Corporation policy at the company headquarters was that employees speak to each other in English or German at work, but it wasn't uncommon to hear one of a dozen other languages in the common areas. Bera and Birgit spoke to each other in Norwegian and Danish respectively. The languages were similar enough that they could understand one another, and both appreciated having someone to speak their native tongue with.

"Well I thought it would be you seeing as we're walking the same way, but you left without me!" Birgit often rode the bus, but she knew when it was cold outside, Bera walked, and she tried to join her when she could. "So much for Nordic Sisterhood. Tell me, big sister, how did you fare your first day back? Because my day was hell."

To answer, Bera let out a small laugh that quickly turned into a groan.

"This whole thing is crazy," Birgit was fishing around in her backpack for lip balm and frowning, "Our department was barely affected by the bombing, but it's like we're a tiny bit off target, not that we can help it, and everyone loses their goddamn mind. No one knew where to start today. Dr. Zhao is usually so chill, but he was chewing people's heads off."

"I can't imagine anyone we work with has experienced this kind of thing before," Bera reasoned, "there was bound to be some chaos."

"That reminds me, I heard that congratulations are in order," Birgit warbled as she applied her lip balm, "what's it like being head geek?" The lab workers often used derogatory terms to refer to their station, a tongue-in-cheek gesture of solidarity.

"Well I'm not celebrating, biochemistry was absolutely gutted," Bera said flatly, "we lost as much as a third of our people in the blast, hence my promotion." Birgit's eyes went wide, and she stared ahead for a moment before going on.

"I didn't know it was that bad. I heard a bunch of managers were gone. Are you missing hands? Do you need people? Can you transfer me to your team? And who's the scary new boss man, he's from your department, right?"

Bera laughed.

"Yes, we're short-staffed, I don't think so considering that your experience is in agriculture, and yes, Mishima is my boss."

"What's he like? All he did when the directors were in the botany labs was scowl." Birgit put on her most dramatic frown which they both giggled at.

"I don't know," Bera shrugged, "he barely said a word to me before they left our floor, he doesn't seem to say much at all."

"Well he dresses better than the others. No one wears fashionable suits around here but Hans. You could almost forget this was a damn multinational corporation," Birgit was trailing off into a rant now, and her language often got fouler when she was agitated, "I mean a little more professionalism from the management finally is great, but why does he have to be so mean looking? How can he wear such flashy colors and _still_ look so mean? Why are his shoes so spotless? What the hell is up with his hair? Did he go to the hairdresser and ask for the 'onion cut?' His jawline is so sharp you could cut steel on it. Come to think of it, he's actually kind of good looking…"

"You had quite some time to study him," Bera said, amused.

" _And_ ," Birgit went on wildly as if Bera hadn't spoke, " _And_ , what kind of biology nerd looks like _that_?"

"Like what?"

"Like…like a fucking Olympian!" Birgit burst out, "Did you see the size of his _neck_?" Her hands were out in front of her, wrapped around a space she thought was the right size. "His shoulders are like a brick wall! He has scars too. I'll bet he used to wrestle bears or something. How does one become a scholar of the physical sciences from professionally harassing wildlife?"

Bera snorted, but after a moment she frowned. She hadn't even registered it at the time, but looking back on that afternoon, the reason she was barely able to choke out three words to Mishima was indeed his daunting size. It probably also had something to do with the scowl. She could recognize Birgit's frenzied but vivid points about his appearance now. She thought on it for a minute.

"I'm sure he's not actually all that mean, he probably just doesn't talk much and doesn't… really …smile…" Bera wasn't doing a good job of making her point, but she put a hand on Birgit's arm as if to say 'chill out,' and she thought about his frame, "and just because he spends more time in a gym than none at all, unlike the rest of our male colleagues, that doesn't make it something to freak out over. Just don't look at him."

"How can you _not_ look at him when he's the biggest person in the building?" Birgit huffed, "eight thousand people work in that building, all of whom he could probably bench press in pairs."

"Why are you so worked up about it? He's _my_ boss, you'll rarely, if ever, even be on the same floor."

"Promise me you'll tell me if he's cruel to you," Birgit pouted.

"Why would he be mean to me and what are you going to do about it if he is?" Bera's voice was flat.

Birgit side-eyed her slyly.

"Right. You _are_ a goody-two-shoes overachiever."

"Birgit, my dear," Bera wrapped an arm around her companion's shoulders, "learn well from me, make good use of your time at G, and you, too, could one day have an illustrious position you're unprepared for under a terrifying and unfamiliar superior. And if you're lucky, he'll be just as impeccably dressed so you always feel like you should have tried just a little harder that morning."

Birgit's arm snaked around Bera's back as well and she squeezed.

"You'll be fine. Who could ever be mad at this face?" Birgit pinched her cheek and they laughed.

They walked on, continuing to gossip down the street until Birgit had to turn down a different route. They waved goodbye and went their separate ways.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Bera felt less anxious. Though her first day as a section chief had been hectic, she knew she could handle it. The hardest part of her job now would most likely be remembering the seventy four Genetics lab workers' names.

Hans Ziggler stopped her at a later point that morning, and he asked her why her effects were still in her old lab. As chief of Genetics, Bera was to take over Dr. Bruni's office. She knew this, but had unconsciously been pushing the thought into the back of her mind, instead rushing around her teams making sure her staff were on task and answering any questions they had. Ziggler suggested she take some time to move into her new space, the nerds could manage a while on their own.

She took an empty box into the taped off lab and began piling her personal items into it.

Bera took her box down the hall and stepped into the late Dr. Bruni's office. She stood in the doorway for a moment, noticing how eerily quiet it was. Helena was only in her office a third of the time, but when she was in, she spent all her time typing up reports and e-mails and schedules. The absence of the non-stop click-clacking of her keyboard seemed unnatural; it made Bera feel strange. On the desk, Dr. Bruni's personal effects still sat, and her photos and credentials still hung framed on the walls. It felt almost disrespectful to move them.

Bera left her box under her desk until she felt brave enough to redecorate.

* * *

That afternoon, Bera was told to report directly to Kazuya Mishima's office for a status update. Her chest felt heavy, she couldn't stand not knowing how he reacted to bad news. And it was all bad news.

She had to ask around where Mishima's office was, which no one seemed to know until she found Dr. Tagore wandering past reception. He told her all the executives' offices were moved during the construction and directed her where to go.

The office was a few floors above her own, so she headed for the elevators. Mishima had been given an office that had belonged to a company lawyer who had died in a blast on one of the uppermost floors.

She arrived at a makeshift waiting room where a very unprofessionally-dressed secretary sat behind a desk reapplying her makeup.

"Dr. Lande?" asked the secretary, her voice comically sultry.

Bera affirmed.

"He's not ready for you yet, have a seat over there."

Bera did so.

After a few minutes, another lab geek walked into the room, eyes darting around as if he was discerning whether he'd found the right place. It was Sovay Sok, a Cambodian virologist Bera had worked with several times. Sovay sat down next to Bera.

"You too?" he asked sheepishly.

Bera nodded, pursing her lips.

"I've been made chief of Microbiology," he said looking down at his knees.

"Genetics." They were both in their late 20s, still young to be in their positions. This didn't necessarily portend disaster, but they both felt like they were wearing shoes four sizes too big.

After a quiet pause, Sovay leaned close to her.

"Who the hell is that?" he stared wide-eyed at the secretary, who was puckering her lips into a compact mirror. Bera could only shrug. "That's definitely not in accordance with the dress code," he gawked, unable to stop studying the ostentatious brunette woman in fur coat, miniskirt, fishnet stockings, and stiletto heels. Everything about her seemed to demand attention. Bera pushed Sovay's face sidewise before the woman could notice him staring. She needn't have bothered.

"Go on in," the woman continued to stare into her mirror arranging her bangs.

Bera and Sovay entered the office timidly. Bera was nervous, but Sovay was visibly terrified. He had never met a department director in the five years he'd worked at G. Now he was a manager and he was coming face to face with one of his biggest professional fears. Bera was sympathetic, and patted him on the back to try and calm him down.

Luckily, Mishima wasn't facing them; he was staring at a chart of names on the wall. Bera saw her own name and Sovay's at the top. It was a roster of his department staff. Spaces where other division managers should have been written were blank.

"Is it just the two of us?" Sovay asked Bera loud enough to be heard by the director.

"For now," Mishima's deep voice startled them, "unfortunately, choosing a section chief for the other divisions wasn't so… straightforward." He turned to face them crossing his arms over his chest. Sovay shrank noticeably. Mishima's gaze alone was intimidating, but Bera took note of his size this time too, his well-built figure impressive. His forearms were bigger than Sovay's legs. "If you have any recommendations, I'd be glad to hear them."

"Every manager in biochemistry is gone…?" Sovay blanched.

"Every one. Our department had the most losses. My job is to get you back on your feet and back up to speed. At least until everything is back to normal, I'll be staying here in Munich. My first task is to find capable managers to help rebuild," Mishima glanced back at the chart over his shoulder. Mishima explained that he preferred to place his trust in brilliant young minds like themselves, who were much more likely to understand the latest theories and methods, and tended to posit the most modern ideas. He had spent the last several weeks poring over the notes on every one of his staff in Munich looking for potential management.

"Dr. Mishima-" Sovay began but was interrupted.

"Not a doctor, rather a lay expert."

That tripped Sovay up even more. After a pause he tried again.

"Mr. Mishima-" Sovay stopped again. Mishima's eyebrows raised waiting for the rest. "What happens if there aren't any suitable candidates? If the other divisions are anything like mine, they're filled with interns and new graduates."

"Though I would prefer to find internal candidates, managers can be brought in from other sites, if temporarily."

"Is there any word on who might have set up the bombs?" Sovay asked as though he didn't really want to know the answer.

"No," Mishima said simply, "so far, there are no suspects."

Bera had heard that the explosives had incinerated any trace of themselves, so that wasn't surprising, although still upsetting.

"But we were allowed to come back to work with the terrorists still at large?" Sovay blurted out.

Mishima became noticeably annoyed by the string of questions. Bera felt depressed suddenly, seeing that he was clearly the temperamental sort, and she was decidedly not looking forward to the following weeks of playing catch-up with someone who was possibly volatile breathing down their necks. Bera glanced at Sovay from the corner of her eye, wondering if she should stop him. He didn't seem to be able to stop himself, Bera realized, his anxiety taking control of his impulses. Mishima's stare bore into Sovay, and Bera knew that was only making Sovay's terror escalate and he continued to talk himself deeper into a hole. Bera rolled her eyes. She kicked his ankle as discreetly as she could and distracted Mishima by speaking, drawing his eyes to herself instead.

"We're confident that you will keep us informed," she said simply, feeling Sovay finally breathe next to her.

"How are your teams progressing?" Mishima exhaled laboriously and leaned against the front of his desk, arms still folded. He glared between the two of them waiting for an answer.

Sovay seemed to have blanked, his mouth open to speak, but no air escaped. Bera guessed his news was as bad as hers.

"Poorly," Bera started bluntly, "along with the section chiefs, a number of project leads were in the meeting where one of the explosions was set off. There are several projects in genetics lacking experts with full knowledge of their research plan. Many don't know how to progress."

"Same," Sovay said quietly.

Mishima frowned. Bera waited for some expression of anger, but as he sat frozen for a moment, she realized he was merely thinking. Perhaps his demeanor merely spoke to his directness, and his expectations were result-oriented. Whatever the case, with Mishima small talk was clearly a no-go.

"Come to think of it," Mishima said with a static expression, "as team leads, the both of you were meant to have been in that same meeting, weren't you?"

"I was, but Dr. Bruni wanted me to continue working on our current project instead. It was important to her that I stay ahead of schedule." Bera was chilled thinking about it. Sovay said nothing, but his expression betrayed his thoughts. He was supposed to be there too.

"How fortunate," Mishima narrowed his eyes and his mouth slanted into a crooked smile. It creeped Bera out.

Sovay shuffled uncomfortably next to her.

Bera decided to push past it and continued, "If given some time to review the reports of each team, I could help my staff redraw their plans and find new leaders. It will take a few days, but it's better than nothing."

"I assume the same can be said for the other divisions," Mishima idly looked at nothing in particular at his side, "we can get them back on schedule if I borrow some of my specialists from Stateside. Our manpower problem would be solved as well for a time." He lifted his gaze back to the two in front of him as if he had been talking to himself a moment ago. "Anything else?"

"Replacing some of the equipment that was lost will be expensive, but quick. The main thing that's dragging us down is all the lab space closed during construction. There are projects sharing cramped spaces and equipment until it's done." Bera looked over her notes again.

Sovay nodded and chimed in with "we were already short-staffed, and as I said those remaining are mostly inexperienced."

Mishima's frown deepened again. "Prioritize your section's research and divide those leftover between the more important tasks. Nothing can be done about the space, but I don't want work to completely grind to a halt because people are using one damn centrifuge." Bera and Sovay both nodded.

"What I expect now from both of you," he continued, "until some new section chiefs are selected to ease the burden, is to direct the remaining divisions in biochemistry. Keep in touch with their experts and delegate where necessary. Their workload will probably have to be divided similarly to your own. I will help where I can. Until staffing is back to normal, we're the only ones accountable. Is that understood?"

When Bera had seen that she and Sovay were the only chiefs for the time being, she had expected this, but hearing it aloud caused her throat to tighten nonetheless. She wasn't ready for this, but somehow she had to be. She nodded again, noticing that Sovay had frozen in place.

Mishima's department bled a bit outside the reach of biochemistry, but was named as such as a condensation. Mishima divided the divisions between the three of them, attempting to keep Bera and Sovay in charge of fields related to their expertise. Along with Bera's Genetics teams, which already outnumbered the vast majority of G's other research departments, she would be managing Neurology and Haematology; Sovay would manage Microbiology, Enzymology, and Toxicology; and Mishima himself would take charge of Forensic Biology.

"Mr. Mishima," Bera side-eyed Sovay as it appeared he would begin a new litany of questions that would irritate the Director, "The specialists from the US will be helpful, but I would suggest opening up hiring again soon. We need to find experienced technicians and specialists again."

"That's for the new CEO to decide," Mishima tilted his head to the side, eyeing them both.

"And… who is the new CEO?" Sovay hesitated to ask.

"Undecided," Mishima said tersely.

Shortly after, Bera and Sovay walked out of the office together and headed toward the elevator. Neither of them spoke until they were out of earshot of the secretary.

"That wasn't so bad," Bera took a deep breath, relieved it was over. Mishima didn't mince words or offer platitudes about the daunting work ahead of them, and she appreciated that, but at the same time she didn't want to know what would happen if either of them fell short of his expectations. He was frightening.

"It's odd that the board of directors haven't voted on a new CEO yet, right?" Sovay tapped Bera's arm.

"A bit. There's probably some political bullshit going on. I don't know if there is an established hierarchy among them anymore."

"Who's the most senior director? Wouldn't they likely get the job?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

In the following days, the new position of Director of Security Operations was created and filled. A tall African American man named Bruce Irvin, reportedly brought in by Kazuya Mishima, was an expert on security and survival. His position put him on the board of directors because Mishima again reportedly convinced the others it was necessary for security to weigh in on important decisions after the violence that shook the company. Irvin was meant to quell the staff's fears of another attack, but his plans went further than that. He proposed turning G Corporation's security force into a fully offensive militia to prevent becoming a target again. Mishima was behind him, but the other directors weren't so eager to militarize the company.

Irvin and Mishima continued to drive the stakes of defending their workforce and looking strong in the face of their unknown enemies further into the ground. After putting up some resistance, one by one the directors relented. Before the incidents in Nebraska and Nepal, G Corporation had never experienced such an attack. Now someone brought the violence to G's very headquarters. This was uncharted territory. They drafted the bylaws that created a paramilitary security force, and within days Irvin submitted the plans for building a training center nearby.

One day shortly thereafter, Bera was stopped in the hall by a group of armored security guards. Their uniforms sported the G Corporation emblem, but Bera had never seen the building's security so heavily armed before. Bruce Irvin stepped to their front to address her.

"Pardon us, doctor, but we're sweeping every floor to assess ongoing security risks," he said politely, "we'll try to stay out of your way."

Bera squeaked out an "okay" and moved aside for the squad to pass her. She watched them go for a moment. She had never seen a fully automatic rifle before and was jarred by the sudden insertion of them into her work life.

G Corporation was changing, and this was the first of several drastic changes that would rock the company.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for reading this far! Please do feel free to leave reviews. What do you like? Not like? What would you like to see come of this story? I'm writing as I go for the most part although I do have a rough plan for most of the story. At the very least, let me know if you think the language in this story is enough for an M rating or a T. I originally rated it M for violence that will happen in much later chapters, but for now it seems silly to leave it that way. I've also considered adding links to sketches I've been doing for this story. Suggest scenes you'd like to see drawn!_

 _There will also be less time skipping as the story goes on._

* * *

Over the course of the next two weeks, Bera and Sovay were in Mishima's office several times to update him on the status of their divisions. They often ran ideas by each other that would streamline research. Bera was liking their management meetings, and she and Sovay were adapting quickly to their new positions, but others it seemed weren't so fortunate in their dealings with the boss.

Mishima's temper quickly became the talk of Biochemistry and subsequently the company. Bera and Sovay had to wait outside the office a few times, listening to Mishima berate analysts and lab workers while waiting for their turn, but Mishima never became cross with them after Sovay's initial unending string of questions. He preferred working with the two of them as they both were driven and always got results. However, stories began circulating of legendary chew-outs of some of his other employees, usually in the Forensic Biology division he was taking responsibility for himself. Despite the entire subdivision being terrified of him, they quickly got back into shape and irked him much less often. Bera noticed that despite his low threshold for irritation, Mishima was a very effective leader, his notions usually working well for the company.

Bera also learned that Mishima's secretary's name was Anna Williams and that she very intentionally gave an air of unapproachability. Bera didn't know anything about Anna's history before becoming an employee of G, but she and Mishima seemed to spend a lot of time together. Any time Mishima left the office, Anna was right behind him even if it seemed they weren't out on business. It was difficult to say if they were romantically involved. Anna flirted, but she flirted with everyone (in a very emasculating manner). Mishima's responses were always blunt, in the same manner he spoke to everyone else. They were an odd pair to be sure.

Bera quickly became amused every day at lunch giving Birgit detailed descriptions of the suits Mishima would wear. He would wear two-piece or three-piece suits, silk ties, and always the same pair of immaculate black derby shoes. Mishima mostly wore palettes of grays, reds, and black with the occasional blue, but it was his affinity for purple that Birgit enjoyed most. She showed some disappointment that his ties were mostly plainly colored, but other than that Birgit seemed to be absolutely smitten. Birgit was interested in fashion, but her obsession with the man himself was bordering on mania. Bera commented on it fairly often.

"I'm just happy to see a man in charge finally who wouldn't be caught dead in a budget tie or with mustard stains on his shirt," she had said one day.

"Let's be honest, men in our field aren't usually the most appearance-conscious beings," Bera laughed.

"That's what makes him so fascinating," Birgit beamed, "it's like we have a GQ model leading one of our major research divisions. Do you think he's done modelling?"

Other than his clothes, Birgit also wanted word-for-word recaps of their meetings, and Bera would oblige as much as she could without breaching confidentiality. She certainly wasn't the only employee who was curious about Mishima, and Bera was certain Birgit was gossiping about what she told her. Bera figured it was better than having the gossip that Mishima regularly ate lab techs for breakfast reign uncontested.

However, Birgit soon had her own gossip to share. Bera's sudden rise to department head had been the subject of much of the jawing around the company. Birgit had expressed numerous times the pride she felt that her friend's accomplishments were being recognized, but she told Bera that there were several unhappy that someone so young who had only been with the company for three years was already in management. There was talk about her pretty face and figure being the reason Mishima had chosen her as his subordinate. Her sudden choice to dress more femininely at work had only encouraged talk that there was something more going on.

In her own defense, Bera had begun to dress more formally simply because of her embarrassing first meeting with the Director when she was wearing old, worn clothes, having been prepared for a day of cleaning a wrecked lab, but hearing such rumors made her upset.

"Hans told me that there was no one left to lead Genetics, since all of our senior researchers were in the meeting that was bombed," she said.

"I know that, and they know that, but people will still talk," Birgit frowned, but instantly perked up, "try to think of it this way; people are talking about your attractiveness! You're like an in-house celebrity!"

"I don't really see how that kind of reputation helps me."

Birgit tapped her fingers on the table trying to think of something else to cheer up her friend.

"Regardless," she began, albeit less chipper, "we both know that they know you're more than qualified. Jealousy makes people say stupid things."

Bera tried to push the gossip out of her mind and instead looked forward to the rest of her day. One of her genetics teams was getting an important delivery that day and she wanted to see if it had arrived. She rushed back upstairs.

An ongoing experiment in Genetics was a project attempting to clone cryogenically frozen specimens. The workers recently had a breakthrough when a cloned mouse survived past its infancy and was currently living in one of the nerds' living room. His name was Clause the Mouse and he was the subject of a worldwide media frenzy being only the second cloned animal born male. He became a mascot for the Genetics department and the project itself got more funding for the positive media exposure he brought the company.

Bera was particularly enamored of this project because of the ramifications it could have for the environment: cloning could mean saving endangered species or even resurrecting extinct ones such as the woolly mammoth. G Corporation's involvement in the research was purely for the challenge, but the project outlasted many of G's other "just because" experiments because the lab techs involved loved it and kept applying for extensions. The possible rewards of such an endeavor, even if only to prove it could be done, were so great that the board of directors continued granting them.

The cloning team had gained enough confidence to attempt to clone a specimen not frozen in a lab. To find one for them, Bera had gotten in contact with one of her university mates, a fellow evolutionary biologist working in the Arctic Circle studying the evolution and ancient migrations of small mammals. He had contacted her a week before, excited to be a part of such an experiment, and told her that they had come across several animals found preserved in permafrost during their field studies, mostly lemmings. Not extinct, or even endangered, but it was something.

She became excited when she approached the cloning lab and saw through the hall window that an unopened package was sitting on the table in the center of the room. She paused when she saw the lab techs standing around the box with sullen faces. She stepped in and noted that no one was saying anything.

"Is this our lemming? What's wrong?" she stood next to the team lead, a young man from South Africa.

Jackson Mbatha smiled at her ruefully. He was one of the head researchers in cloning and he had been just as excited about the shipment as Bera.

"The box is warm," he said, "it seems the shipping company didn't properly refrigerate the package as we requested."

"You haven't opened it yet? Maybe it's on dry ice." Bera said hopefully.

"We were about to try, but," his face scrunched, "no one wants to open a package of rotting rodent."

"Uff," Bera likewise skewed her face, but was eager to find out what was inside, "turn on the ventilation fans and let's do this."

"Whatever you say, boss." Jackson picked up a box cutter and ripped the tape. Inside was a sealed steel case, which was promising, but Jackson's face fell again when he felt that it was likewise warm. After a moment, he inhaled sharply, said, "Here we go," and unlocked the latch.

Immediately, the stench of putrefaction permeated the lab. Jackson launched himself backward and coughed. Several aides covered their noses, and a few made gagging noises. Bera's head felt light and she almost fell over, but she covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve and approached.

The warm temperatures during shipping had melted the permafrost and the moisture accelerated the decomposition process. Henrik, her colleague, had told her that the lemming had been perfectly preserved, but the animal, which could have been under the ground for several years, had begun to decay in a matter of days.

Bera closed the case and locked it again. The smell lingered, but it was no longer overwhelming.

"Well that was a disappointment," she breathed.

"Only a setback, I'm sure you could get another." Jackson shrugged.

"I will. My contact said he'd be willing to send more if we needed them. Don't worry, hopefully I can get him to send another soon. Just get rid of that thing," she and Jackson patted each other's shoulders supportively before Bera hurried out of the room. She went to a corner in the hall to recover.

Lifting her tablet to e-mail Henrik, she couldn't help but feel melancholy. She had been intermittently assigned to the cloning project for the last several years, and she felt attached to it. Jackson was right of course, this was just a minor setback, but everything had been going so smoothly for the last few weeks that this first upset under her leadership amplified itself in her mind. She felt determined to fix it as soon as possible.

Mishima would need to be notified and he would have to approve a new shipment. The importance of this project was minimal as its progress thus far merely bolstered G's reputation and status in the world of biotech, but it was important to Bera as one of her favorite projects. She didn't know if Mishima would agree with the pursuit given their short staffing. She stubbornly decided to bother him with it anyway.

Bera dialed Anna's desk on her cellphone and waited several minutes while it rang with no answer. She tried again a few minutes later, still with no answer. She hesitated to dial Mishima directly, but she had no choice. When she dialed his office, the phone didn't ring and didn't direct her to his voicemail. That was weird.

Bera sat for a few minutes wondering whether she should try calling Anna's desk again or if she should just head up. They might have been in a meeting, but she should have at least been able to get Mishima's voicemail. Ultimately, she decided her pet project couldn't wait and headed for the elevator. She was on an adrenaline rush and didn't want to waste it if she had to defend her position to the director.

Bera entered the waiting room, finding that Anna was not at her desk, the door to the office ajar. She was second guessing her decision to come up here, but she had told herself it was important, and she wasn't going to wait. She knocked on the door before pushing it open. The room was dark.

"Sir?" she didn't see the director anywhere and she again second guessed herself.

"What do you want?" came a gruff response from a black leather couch on the opposite end of the room. Mishima was lying down with an arm draped over his face. Bera straightened her spine.

"I need your approval for a shipment before one of my projects can move forward," she somehow managed to say without her voice wavering.

"Where is Anna? She's supposed to clear this kind of thing."

"I don't know, not at her desk." Bera was unnerved that he hadn't even looked up.

"'The fuck do I pay that bitch for?" she heard him mutter under his breath as he finally sat up, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was clearly in a foul mood. Now she just wanted to run away, but she was here already, and he had finally acknowledged that someone was in the room. He looked up at her and froze as though he hadn't realized who was intruding until then.

"Are you all right, sir?"

"I'm fine. I get…. headaches." his tone softened, and he stood up. His jacket and tie were lying across the couch's arm and his collar was open. He took a drink from a glass of water sitting on an end table next to the couch and turned on a lamp. Bera saw his office phone was unplugged. He put his tie and jacket back on before straightening up and looking Bera in the eye with his usual sharp glare.

"Now what is it you need approval for?"

Bera explained the situation and was fully prepared to debate the significance of the cloning research, but Mishima merely shrugged and said, "fine."

Bera was taken aback. She had prepared herself for every argument against continuing the project he could have made, but she wasn't prepared for indifference. She was grateful and thought she should take the opportunity to step out while she could, but before she could stop herself she blurted out, "I wasn't expecting you to approve such a frivolous endeavor."

Mishima sat at his desk and pulled up reports on the cloning project on his laptop before responding.

"This project has put the company in a favorable light several times with its breakthroughs," he said skimming, "and successful cloning is the biotech community's golden egg. If they continue to stay at the forefront of cloning research even after G Corporation's setbacks, it will only make us look better. Keep on it."

"Right," she said quickly, "I'll make sure they get a new sample as soon as possible."

"Call it a personal interest, but I'm eager to see where they go in the future," Mishima rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "don't worry about your staffing problems. I'll make sure the board understands the importance."

Considering herself lucky, Bera wanted to get back to her office quickly and e-mail Henrik, but a sudden thought stopped her. Bera turned back around.

"Sir?"

"Mm?" he was already back to his laptop.

"Did you ever meet with Dr. Bruni?" Bera didn't know where the question came from, but she felt she needed to ask.

"What?" He raised his head and Bera wasn't sure if he hadn't heard her or if he didn't know who she was talking about.

"My predecessor, Dr. Bruni. Did you ever speak to her?"

"No. I read her reports every month and sent back instructions. We never had a conversation," he responded.

Bera wasn't sure what she had expected, but she was disappointed. It was quiet for a minute.

"Though," he stood up again, guessing she was reaching for more than that, "your name came up often in those reports. She was aggressive about getting you a push up the ladder." There was another pause. "Were you close?" he asked, as if only to break the silence.

"I wouldn't say that," Bera wasn't sure she wanted to think about it now that Bruni was gone, "but she did a lot for me from the time I was hired, and we worked well together."

"Dr. Bruni wanted the right people to be in the right positions," Mishima went to his default position of crossing his arms and leaning against the desk, "and I knew enough about her to trust her judgement. It was apparent she was grooming you to be her successor. Her…enthusiastic advocacy made the choice for a new chief of Genetics clear. She didn't give outright praise lightly. Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but she was much more likely to subtly hint that there were people on her team who should be pushed _off_ the ladder instead."

"She never tried to hide it when she didn't like someone."

"And yet she would never fire them herself," he muttered.

"Firing someone in this office can be very political, and Helena never liked dealing with bureaucracy. She would rather force someone to quit."

"It's my turn to ask a question," Mishima narrowed his eyes and Bera withered at the look, taken aback by the abrupt turn. "Did you know the CEO?"

"Not well. Did you?" her response was sharper than she intended, but Bera wondered whether Mishima had ever talked to anyone outside of the Nebraska site. His history with the company was strange, to say the least.

"Not personally, but I've been on the board of directors since before his predecessor retired, there are meetings every month," he said patiently. Bera probably should have realized that. "What did you think of him?"

Bera thought for a moment.

"I only spoke to him a few times. From what I could see, he was overly concerned with being owed favors and didn't care much about people."

"Did you think he was a good corporate head?"

"It's never been my place to say."

"He's dead," Mishima said a little too brusquely, "and I'm telling you it is." Bera hesitated and creased her brow, but she answered.

"He elevated people he liked, pocketed IOUs like they were candy, and turned making the smallest changes into a bureaucratic nightmare as a power play. Dr. Bruni never fired anyone because she had to get his direct approval. If you tried to fire someone he didn't want fired, it wouldn't get done and he'd be looking for any reason to make your life harder." Bera was surprised by how much she had to say. Weber really was a shit CEO. She suddenly realized he had been leading her to the point of Weber's politics after their discussion of Dr. Bruni.

Mishima nodded.

"How did people tolerate this?" he asked.

"People didn't have a choice. There were rumors certain members of the board were trying to depose him, but," Bera had been about to say she didn't take much stock in rumors, but she saw him nodding again.

"That much is true," Mishima stood up and straightened his vest. He walked back around his desk and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. "There were those of us who thought him a bad fit from the beginning." He opened his mouth to speak again as he pulled the coat over his arms but appeared to think better of whatever he was going to say.

"What is it?" Bera wondered if he was talking about the late CEO because he knew something about the upcoming vote.

"I can't stand here and tell an underling all the board's secrets," Mishima smirked.

"Rude." She flinched at her own sass, but he began to chuckle.

"I'm heading down to your floors, give the interns slacking off a scare. Come on," he walked past her without looking back to see if she was following.

Bera headed for the elevator. She still wasn't sure what to make of the Director. He was undeniably terrifying in his own quiet way at times, but he had just transitioned seamlessly to a dry, almost playful humor.

As they stepped off the elevator, Bera silently prayed that everyone was hard at work. She knew her own team weren't likely to waste any time, but she didn't know the rest of her department, or any of the others she was temporarily in charge of, well enough yet to say one way or the other. Mishima seemed to be in a better mood now, but she wondered how much it would take to change that.

As they passed her office, she decided to make the most of his inspection and retrieved her tablet, keeping it close in case he had any comments. She quickly suggested they pass by the cloning lab as they had just been discussing their progress, fearing the stench still lingered.

Bera was pleasantly surprised to find that her staff were all doing exactly as they should, and as they moved from lab to lab she introduced the director and ordered each team to give a status report. Seemingly on top of everything else under his management, Mishima had no doubt read about every current project in his department before his arrival, but she thought he would appreciate hearing it from them. He showed no sign of approval or disapproval, listening to each team lead stone-faced and barely saying a word. She realized at some point that he might just be humoring her.

As they walked the halls between labs, he occasionally asked names to match with faces, but other than that he was quiet.

When they were done and began walking back in the direction of her office, he finally nodded, satisfied.

"You're doing well keeping us on schedule. Despite our losses, your departments are catching up quicker than most."

She was relieved, although surprised, to hear that. She assumed that, like Dr. Bruni, compliments from him were rare given his usual stoic manner. She likewise nodded in response, not sure how to react. She was tempted to ask how Sovay was doing with his half of the department but decided against it. Remembering Sovay's sheer dread in Mishima's presence, she thought he wouldn't appreciate being brought to the director's attention more than necessary. She would ask him herself.

"How is Forensic Biology faring?" she asked cautiously instead.

"They're moving forward," Mishima exhaled, "It would seem some departments weren't managed as strictly as others." He didn't seem to want to say more than that, so Bera left it there. She walked with him back to the elevators and as he went up to his office she went back toward the labs.

* * *

Bera continued her routine of avoiding her new office and spending as much time with the research teams as she could get away with. She used her tablet to complete most of her administrative tasks and answer e-mails while on the go. Her office was for the most part an afterthought, where she dropped off her coat and purse at the beginning of the day and retrieved them in the evening. One day she came to work to see that Hans had removed all of Dr. Bruni's possessions and left her a note telling her to get to it. So, she finally did.

Her possessions kept at work were few, but she scattered some photos on the walls and her new desk. She decided to copy Helena and frame her degrees and hung those as well. She spent her lunch personalizing her computer and organizing files the way she felt was more efficient and looking for other ways to make the office less intimidating. She had to be grateful to Hans though, she already felt less haunted by Dr. Bruni's memory with her things gone, and even better she didn't have to remove them herself.

While working at reorganizing her computer, Bera began skimming through some of Helena's reports. Part of her thought better of it, not wanting to be disrespectful, but she found a few e-mail conversations between Helena and Mishima. Seeing an opportunity to find out more about the Director, she decided to continue reading.

For the most part, the e-mails reinforced her impression that Mishima was a very direct, no-nonsense personality, his replies to Helena's reports often brief. It was clear that he was intelligent, and despite claiming not to have studied in the field, his understanding of the projects under his supervision ran deep. His management was very decisive and he rarely left Helena to make judgement calls on the direction of the labs.

Bera lost an hour reading through months' worth of reports back and forth before coming to a conversation between Helena and Dieter Weber, the late CEO. Bera knew Weber to be a very hands-off sort of leader, so seeing a business discussion between him and one of the section chiefs was definitely strange. Bera hesitated before reading, but her curiosity was piqued. Remembering her discussion with Mishima about the late CEO only egged her on.

It was headed with the understanding that this was to be a confidential conversation. Weber was offering Helena the position of Director of Biochemistry, replacing Kazuya Mishima.

Mishima had made no mention of any intention to leave the company before the bombing brought him to Munich. Had he been meaning to resign and simply decided to stay because he was needed? Had Weber been about to fire him? The conversation made no mention of when or why Mishima would be leaving G. Bera was puzzled, wondering why such a thing would need to be so secretive.

She suddenly recalled Mishima had confirmed gossip that he and other members of the board of directors were trying to unseat Weber. Had Weber been trying to preemptively secure his own position?

Bera barely heard her office phone ring over her own thoughts. She absentmindedly picked it up.

"Lande," she answered briefly.

"Dr. Lande, get up here." Bera froze when she realized it was Mishima, but he had already hung up before she could respond. His brevity made her panic. What had she done? She had heard him lose his temper with others, was it her turn? Before her mind could begin racing through her actions over the last few days, she quickly headed to the elevator, not wasting any time. She forgot all about her snooping over the last hour while her immediate crisis crippled her nerves.

Before she entered the waiting room, she took a steadying breath. Whatever happened, she was determined to remain composed. She couldn't indulge in delaying what was coming, so she stepped through the doors with an even expression, though her entire being felt constricted. As she passed the front desk, Anna gave her a sly smile. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Anna was more unnerving than their boss sometimes. Without hesitating Bera entered Mishima's office.

"You needed something?" she asked pleasantly, swallowing her unease.

"I needed a word with my chiefs, but I called you up here alone because Dr. Sok is grating on my last nerve." Mishima was sitting at his desk grumbling at her over a laptop.

 _Oh no_.

"Hearing his knees knock together every time he's in here isn't nearly as adorable as he seems to think it is," Mishima lifted a hand to rub his temple. "Truthfully, when you came up here the other day I was relieved. From now on, I'd like you to deal with him until he gets over his phobia." Bera had thought Sovay was doing much better than at their first meeting, but if that was all Mishima was annoyed about, she could relax. She decided to wait until he continued to consider herself safe.

"Anyway," he breathed, "how are you managing with your temporary divisions? I know you took on the majority of the burden, but I trusted that you would be more than capable."

"I've been given good people to work with," Bera said truthfully, "I knew the Genetics techs would be fine, but Neurology and Haematology are both full of intelligent and capable scientists as well. After we detailed new plans and restructured their research, named new team leads, they've all fallen back into their roles. My teams make it easy to manage."

"You're in charge of more projects than any other section chief yet your progress is better than all of them. It seems that Dr. Bruni was right," Mishima smirked, "you were meant to lead."

Bera felt her face flush. Praise from the Director was still unexpected. His stoic manner was rarely broken, but his mood could shift on a dime. Bera still felt as though she was thrashing listlessly in the deep end at times with her new responsibilities, but she did have to admit to herself that regardless things were going rather smoothly. She took the compliment.

"Thank you, Mr. Mishima. But I thought it was something urgent you needed when you called. You seemed agitated." She wondered if that was the first time someone had acknowledged Mishima's temper aloud to him.

"Not so urgent, but something that needs to be discussed nonetheless," Mishima's smirk disappeared, but his mood remained lighter after that. "The board is considering allowing new research to be opened again, and since your departments are doing so well, I've volunteered them for the first trial run. Dr. Sok's Microbiology staff as well. I've been given a list of requests we've received since our reopening. Do you have any hands available?"

"I can free up some teams, but there are still a few labs closed," the lab Bera had been working in before the bombing was one of them, and the lab next door as well, along with various others affected by the violence in some way, "if I can divide up some of the teams it would allow for more new teams, but it could slow the progress of some projects."

"I'll allow it as long as you choose wisely. This is, after all, only a trial run."

"I'll call Sovay and let him know," Bera nodded.

"Go on down to his office, and take this," he handed her a printout of the requests from investors. "It'll give you another excuse to avoid your own, yes?" Mishima raised an eyebrow at her and the smirk returned. Humor was the last thing she expected from him. She laughed nervously. It was one thing to recognize her need to buckle down and stop being afraid of her own office, but the fact that Mishima noticed as well was a wakeup call if Bera had ever experienced one.

Bera tracked down Sovay in one of the microbiology labs and pulled him aside to discuss the requests. Sovay seemed unbothered, relieved even, that Mishima had essentially banned him from his office. He even thanked her for acting as a middle-woman. He assured her that he would look over his available resources and get back to her when he could begin new research.

"Sovay," she said before he could walk away, "why are you so scared of the Director? He's happy with the work we're doing, he's been very civil with the two of us at least."

"I can't explain it," he said honestly, "I thought it was because I'd never spoken to anyone in management before other than my predecessor Dr. Park, but ever since we both got promoted, I've had conversations with the other Directors and I felt fine. Whenever we meet with Director Mishima though, I feel overwhelmed."

"He does have an intimidating look," Bera nodded slowly.

"I don't think that's it entirely. I just get a bad feeling around him. I've tried to hide it better because I'm sure it's nothing. But, I've already made a bad impression," Sovay looked bashful, "maybe it's better that you'll be working between us." He sighed and looked up at Bera. "Are you sure that's okay? You've already got a lot on your plate."

"If that's what the Director wants, I don't have much of a choice. It's fine, though. If it keeps him in a better mood, there's less chance of one of us getting roasted on a spit like the others." She cringed. Mishima seemed tolerant of Sovay up to that point simply because he was good at his job, but if they were to meet on one of his more volatile days she didn't want him to blow up on poor Sovay.

The Director was a hard man to read, and Bera knew already that Sovay's and her own inherent apprehension toward him was not uncommon. Judging by his friends, he liked to surround himself with other strong personalities, but it made him even less approachable. Anna Williams in particular drove other employees off with her meanness, her ostentatiousness, and her overt flirting, with Mishima and any other man that came near. All but a few of the most determined male employees avoided her whenever possible. Bruce was nice enough, but like the director his figure was daunting. Worse, he was five inches taller and often said even less.

Bera often thought she should get to know Bruce since she often saw him during his security patrols and he was always polite to her. He spent his days between the Millennium Tower, either patrolling the halls or talking to Mishima, and the G Corporation security training center with the recruits. Of Mishima's circle, he seemed the friendliest and the most open to conversation. If she was going to be in contact with Mishima even more often, she decided now was the time to be on congenial terms at least with his friends at work.


End file.
